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THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thanks for coming. Please be
seated. Thanks for coming. The person who introduces me in the White
House better look out for his job. (Laughter.) Your mother said, get
out of the middle of the road when a truck is coming. My mother said,
keep your speeches short. (Laughter.)

Thanks for having me. It's great to be back in this compassionate
city. I think it's called the City of Brotherly Love, and that's what
we're here to talk about today, is brotherly love.

First I want to thank my friend, Herb Lusk, for inviting me back to
the Greater Exodus Baptist Church. I've been here before, the 4th of
July. (Applause.) And I don't remember this building being here. At
the time I said, Herb is a social entrepreneur who can make things
happen. We're in this beautiful building because he made things
happen. (Applause.) He believes, as I do, in the power of faith to
touch every heart and to change every life.

That's kind of the motto or the philosophy of the programs that
emanate from this church. He is a -- he takes his admonition to love a
neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself seriously. And so
do the people who attend this church.

I want to remind you that not only is there great spirituality
here, but this is a church that trains people coming off welfare rolls
to find work. Isn't that a wonderful -- (applause.) This is a church
which helps feed the hungry, and finds shelter for the homeless. A
church that helps families to stay together. This is a church that is
giving generously of time and money. Herb Lusk is a general in the
army of compassion. (Applause.)

This is a -- and the other thing this church is doing is sending
donations to fight AIDS around the world. (Applause.) I'm here to
thank the church for doing that. I want to thank all the churches in
the Greater Philadelphia area for the Stand for Africa Campaign. This
is a great example of how people of faith can become involved in saving
lives. It's a fine example for every American, faith or no faith.

HIV/AIDS, you see, is a challenge, it's a direct challenge to the
compassion of our country, and to the welfare of not only our nation,
but nations all across the globe. It's really one of the great
challenges of our time. This disease leaves suffering and orphans and
fear wherever it reaches.

Every man and woman and child who suffers from this affliction, from
the streets of Philly to the villages of Africa, is a child of God who
deserves our love and our help. And that's what I'm here to talk about
today. We're provided -- we're determined to provide that help. We're
committed to help those at home and help those abroad. To whom much
has been given, much is demanded.

I want to thank Tommy Thompson for being here. He's one of the
ones I demand that he do his job to make sure that we do the best we
can in America to help those who hurt. And Tommy is the -- he's the
head of the Department of Health and Human Services. He's doing a
fabulous job. I want to thank you for coming. (Applause.) His job is
to work with the issue at home, as well as abroad. But to help him
make sure the AIDS initiative, our international AIDS initiative works
well, I went into the private sector and found somebody who had run a
complex organization before. You see, we're moving a lot of money --
and I'm about to describe it to you here in a minute -- but I want to
make sure the money is actually spent wisely. See, we ought not to be
measured on how much money we move, we ought to be measured on how many
lives we save. (Applause.)

So, therefore, I needed somebody who is a manager, somebody who
could organize, somebody who could find that which works and make sure
it continues to work well, and that which doesn't work, replace it with
something that does. Somebody who is open-minded and focused on the
results. And that is Ambassador Randy Tobias. I'm proud you're here,
Randy. Thanks for coming. (Applause.)

And working with Tobias is my friend, Dr. Joe O'Neill. He is the
person -- I like to call him the architect of the global AIDS
initiative. Dr. Joe has been very much involved with HIV/AIDS for a
long period of time. He's a pioneer in many ways, a deeply
compassionate person and a man I'm proud to call friend. Thank you for
coming, Joe. I'm glad you're here. (Applause.)

We've got a lot of other important people here. We've got members
of Congress -- and since Congress is in session, it's probably in my
interest to introduce the congressmen. (Laughter.) Congressman Curt
Weldon and Congressman Jim Greenwood are with us today, two really fine
members. (Applause.) Senator Specter flew on the airplane, he had to
get back for some votes, but he sent his better half -- and I emphasize
"better half." (Laughter.) I want to thank Mrs. Specter for coming
today. (Applause.) City Councilman Jack Kelly, as well -- is here, as
well.

Members from the church are here. We've got bishops from different
religions, and I am honored you are here. We've got people who have
heard the call and who want to serve, are here. We've got a volunteer
who is here, a person named Pat McDonough. I met her at the airport.
There she is. Pat, thank you for coming. (Applause.) She is a
volunteer at Silloam. I'll be talking about Silloam pretty soon. It's
a spiritually-based program designed to help save lives. You'll hear
some stories about this locally-based grassroots organization, which
depends upon people such as Pat to show up and volunteer.

And so the reason I bring up Pat -- first of all, what she does,
she's a massage therapist for people affected by HIV/AIDS. She uses
her hands to help reflect her heart and make people more comfortable in
their pain. You know, when you've got somebody who loves somebody
helping them through their pain, the effect is not only physical, it
can be spiritual, as well. And I want to thank Pat for volunteering.

My call to people in Philadelphia who want to love their neighbor
is to find programs such as Silloam, or the programs in Herb's church,
and say, I want to help. To me, it's patriotic to love a neighbor like
you'd like to loved yourself.

I appreciate the example, Pat, that you have set. And I'm honored
you are here, and thank you for coming. (Applause.)

Every day in our world, 8,000 lives are lost to the AIDS pandemic
-- 8,000 people a day. We are fighting one of the great tragedies of
human history. And it's important for our fellow citizens to
understand that this is a great tragedy. See, when you see a great
tragedy, people will respond. This isn't a minor tragedy. It's just
not a blip in history. It is a great tragedy. That's how I view it.
That's how others here view it, as well.

Tens of millions of people are living with HIV virus. More than
two million of them are children under the age of 15. It's really
difficult to think about that kind of injustice, isn't it, about
despair coming so early to boys and girls who are so young. That's the
problem we face. That's a problem we'll deal with. AIDS is an
individual tragedy for all who suffer, and a public health catastrophe
that threatens the future of many nations.

In some African countries, the percentage of adults infected with
HIV is as high as one-third. In our own country, nearly a million of
our fellow Americans have the virus, and 40,000 more contract it each
year.

Yet, there are reasons to be encouraged and hopeful and optimistic
in the fight against AIDS. HIV is no longer a hopeless death sentence,
and that's a positive development. New drugs and new treatments are
dramatically extending and improving lives. The scientists and
researchers who develop these drugs are some of the great humanitarian
heroes of our time, and we thank them for their work, and we will fund
their work.

Their work has made broader treatment, even in the poorest of
countries, a realistic hope. And proven methods of prevention are
showing the spread of this disease -- are slowing the spread of this
disease in some parts of the world. In other words, prevention --
we're beginning to understand how to prevent the disease from
spreading. HIV/AIDS can be beaten. We're committed to ending the
plague. America is committed to continue to leading the world in
ending the plague. (Applause.)

We're fully engaged in this global fight against AIDS -- I mean
fully engaged. Our nation took the lead in sounding the global fund.
We remain the world's largest contributor to the fund. We're setting
the example for others to follow. That's what a leader does. America
leads so that others will follow.

To expand these efforts, a year and a half ago I announced the
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. That's the plan that Dr. O'Neill is
the architect of. I called for $15 billion over five years to combat
the spread of HIV in other countries, and to provide treatment and care
to 10 million people affected by HIV. Earlier this year, Congress
provided $2.4 billion for my emergency plan -- in other words, they're
beginning to fund the plan. And I thank them for that. I want to
thank the members of Congress who are here. (Applause.)

I call upon Congress to make sure they fully fund the plan. The
first portion, $350 million, began reaching people in need six weeks
ago -- only six weeks ago, I might add. (Applause.) That is the fast
-- that is faster than any major international anti-AIDS effort has
ever been implemented. Because our help cannot get there fast enough,
there is a pandemic on the continent. We need to move quickly.

We've identified 14 nations in Africa and the Caribbean in need of
urgent help. The global fund and bilateral funding really means we're
reaching all around the world. We're focused on 14 nations where the
pandemic is most acute. Let's go where the problems are the toughest,
I said. Let's bring America -- let's bring America to where -- where
people suffer the most. We want to tackle the toughest problems in
this country, not the easiest ones. We'll leave the easier ones for
other people. (Applause.)

In these countries, the money is funding clinics, buying drugs,
paying for treatments, supporting faith-based groups, training health
care workers. The funds are making a difference already. In just a
few months, the Reach Out clinic in Uganda -- one of these little
centers of heroism in the midst of disease -- in Uganda more than
doubled the number of patients it is treating with life-extending
antiretroviral drugs. In other words, we're beginning to get it out.
We're beginning to -- we're beginning to see results. Suddenly,
there's new hope among those who seek help and those who give it.

See, when they get the antiretroviral drug, there's a Lazarus
effect -- (applause) -- and people, all of a sudden, say, I have hope.
And when others have hope -- when someone has hope, that spreads to
other people. There's nothing better than a hopeful society in dealing
with the pandemic. A hopeful society means you think you can win. A
non-hopeful society says, I surrender. America is not going to
surrender to the pandemic. (Applause.)

One of the workers in the clinic describes it this way: "We are
experiencing something very beautiful. Our clients will have a chance
to continue to live." I want to thank you all for your work.

Jennifer Birungi is a widow who lives in Uganda's capital,
Kampala. She has two children. She has HIV, and earlier this year she
was diagnosed with meningitis. It's a terrible disease under any
circumstance. But that one is especially devastating for people with
HIV. The doctors will tell you the combination of HIV and meningitis
is deadly. Without treatment, her life expectancy would have been six
days. Because America acted, because the American people acted, she's
getting treatment, and the extra years she now hopes for will mean
everything to her children. (Applause.)

For too long, anti-AIDS programs offered too little treatment for
those who had already contracted the disease. And so today we're
helping other nations to buy drugs -- this is one of the focuses of
Randy and Joe -- so that we can extend lives. Because, you see, every
life matters to the Author of life, and so they matter to us.

Today, I announce a second round of funding in the Emergency Plan
for AIDS Relief. More than $500 million will be soon on its way.
Congress needs to release the money. (Applause.) These grants will
provide more antiretroviral treatments and promote prevention efforts,
care for children who lost their parents to AIDS -- there's a lot of
orphans around the continent of Africa. You've got 14- and 15-year-old
kids raising their brothers and sisters. So part of the effort is to
provide love and hope for these brave young kids who have been handed
an incredibly tough burden, an awesome burden.

We want to help build and equip hospitals and clinics. In other
words, we want the infrastructure to be there. Part of the money goes
to make sure there's an infrastructure. I mean, we really don't care
here in America if it takes a bicycle or a moped to get antiretrovirals
out of these big cities, but that's what we're going to do. And part
of the challenge we face is to help poor countries have the capacity to
absorb the drugs and compassion of America. That's one of our
challenges.

I want to thank the Congress, again, and the taxpayer, for their
generosity. This is a vital initiative. Let's make sure the resources
keep coming on a timely basis.

Today, I'm also announcing that we're adding Vietnam to the
emergency plan. In other words, we have 14 countries; we're adding a
15th country. Now, after a long analysis by our staff, we believe that
Vietnam deserves this special help. We're putting a history of
bitterness behind us with Vietnam. The reason why -- (applause) -- the
reason why the decision was made is because the nation has experienced
a rapid rise in HIV infections -- a rapid rise -- especially among the
young.

And Vietnam is cooperative and wants help. In other words, they
recognize they have a problem -- which, by the way, is an important
part of battling the pandemic. People have got to say, I've got a
problem, come and help us. It's hard in certain countries that people
say, we don't have a problem, you know, in denial. In the meantime,
people are dying. Part of diplomacy, by the way, good diplomacy says
to leaders, I think you need to listen to the truth, and the truth will
set you free and help people survive.

And so, therefore, we're sending up to the Congress a notification
that Vietnam is now going to receive -- be a part of the 15 -- now 15
nation focus, and want the Vietnamese to hear, together we'll fight the
disease. You've got a friend in America. (Applause.)

We will continue to confront the disease abroad, and we will
confront it here at home, as well. I want our fellow citizens to
understand that we can -- we can work in Africa, and we can work in
America at the same time. We've got plenty of capacity. (Applause.)
These efforts are not mutually exclusive, they're complementary,
they're complementary.

The number of women diagnosed with AIDS has risen in America. That
is a fact. For African Americans between the ages of 25 and 44, the
prime of life, AIDS is the second leading cause of death. We've got to
deal with it here at home, as well. (Applause.)

AIDS is finding more victims beyond our cities. AIDS victims now
are in our suburbs and in the rural heartland. Neither individuals,
nor society, nor government can afford to be complacent, and we will
not relent against the battle of AIDS here in America. My latest
budget commits more than $17 billion to prevent and treat AIDS in
America, and to find a cure. This is a 27-percent increase from the
budgets of 2001. (Applause.)

It's one thing to spend money, it's another thing to spend it
wisely. And so today I want to talk about a three-part strategy to
make sure that we're effective here at home. First, we will provide
better care and treatment to those suffering from HIV and AIDS, better
treatment and care. We will act as quickly as possible to get
lifesaving drugs to people with the greatest need.

In 10 states, hundreds of AIDS patients are waiting for access to
life-extending treatments. In other words, there's long lines. Some
of these people have been waiting for months. That seems like a
problem that we can deal with, Tommy. And we're prepared to help deal
with it. So we're going to provide $20 million, effective today, to
extend lifesaving drugs -- (applause) -- the purpose of which is to
deliver lifesaving drugs to the men and women who are waiting. In
other words, there shouldn't be lines here. And we're going to deal
with the lines.

We will also get help to those who need it by making sure that the
federal programs are focused on saving lives. Our nation's most
important AIDS legislation, the Ryan White Care Act, has done a lot of
good, a lot of good over the years, by funding groups that provide care
and services to AIDS patients. Yet the law was written more than a
decade ago, when those with AIDS had little hope. So the law is
concerned largely with caring for the sick and dying, instead of
helping AIDS patients to lead longer and healthier lives. In other
words, there's a different focus now because things have changed,
technology has changed, medicines are changing how people can live with
AIDS.

When the Ryan White Care Act is reauthorized next year, I propose
to make it stronger and more effective by focusing resources on
life-extending care, such as antiretroviral drugs and doctor visits and
lab tests. This kind of care was just a dream 20 years ago. It is a
reality today. And we will work with Congress to make sure that as
many patients as possible are receiving the modern care they deserve.
(Applause.)

We need to change the way that money under the Ryan White Care Act
is provided to care-givers and states and communities. Today, funding
decisions are made according to a rigid geographical formula that takes
too little account of the most urgent needs. In other words, you can't
set priorities -- that's what that means.

In some areas of the country -- countries, (sic) there are more
severe cases. There are particular problems among minority women.
There are fewer resources to handle its case load. In those cases,
Tommy Thompson, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, should have
the flexibility to cut through the red tape and get the money quickly
to where it is needed. That's what we're going to propose to the
Congress. Let us set priorities and make sure the resources fund those
priorities. That makes sense, with taxpayers' money, it seems like to
me. We must hold accountable organizations that receive federal help
to fight AIDS by keeping track of their progress. People shouldn't
fear that. They ought to -- say, are you doing the job? Are lives
being saved? Are your lines too long? If they are, why? Are you
getting out the word? Are you doing what we asked? You see, we're
interested in the people's lives, not the bureaucratic process.

We must be sure that any organization that is effective in AIDS is
eligible for federal help, by the way -- effective in fighting AIDS is
eligible for help. And that includes faith-based groups. See, there
are -- (applause.) The faith-based groups are making a huge difference
on the continent of Africa; they need to be making a huge difference
here at home, as well. (Applause.)

For many AIDS patients, especially those who live in low-income
areas or rural areas, a local church program or community health center
is their only source for treatment and support. And to be frank about
it, the church is the only place many people feel comfortable going to
share their burdens. Sometimes, they don't feel so comfortable sharing
their burdens in a church. And when that's the case, the church needs
to make sure people do feel comfortable in sharing the burden. But,
nevertheless -- (applause.) The way I like to put it is, faith-based
programs deserve the support of our government when they're effective,
not to be discriminated against. People shouldn't fear the fact if
there's a cross on the wall and an AIDS program in that building. We
ought to welcome that. We ought not to fear the Star of David on a
wall and an AIDS program ensconced in the building. We ought to
welcome it, because the motivation by the people of faith is a
motivation to help heal the hurt. (Applause.)

The second part of a domestic strategy to fight AIDS is
prevention. I think it's really important for us to focus on
prevention. We can learn from the experiences of other countries when
it comes to a good program to prevent the spread of AIDS, like the
nation of Uganda. They've started what they call the A-B-C approach to
prevention of this deadly disease. That stands for: Abstain, be
faithful in marriage, and, when appropriate, use condoms. That's what
A-B-C stands for. And it's working. I like to call it a practical,
balanced and moral message. I say it's working because Uganda has cut
its AIDS infection rate to 5 percent over 10 years. Prevention works.
(Applause.)

I think our country needs a practical, effective, moral message.
In addition to other kinds of prevention, we need to tell our children
that abstinence is the only certain way to avoid contacting HIV.
(Applause.) It works every time. Children have a way of living up or
down to our expectations. If we want them to lead healthy and
responsible lives, we must ask them to lead healthy and responsible
lives. (Applause.)

This message, I know, is the primary duty of moms and dads. It's
not the primary duty of the government. I fully recognize that.
However, government can help. That's why I have proposed to double
federal funding for programs that help local groups spread the most
effective way to prevent the spread of AIDS, which is to teach children
to make the right choices in life. (Applause.)

Our national prevention efforts also depend on HIV testing as a
routine part of health care. That makes sense to me, it should to
you. I mean, how can you solve a problem until you diagnose the
problem. Roughly, a quarter of the people with HIV do not know they
have it. That makes it hard to treat people who don't know they have
it. They aren't getting the treatment, of course, and they're
unknowingly spreading the majority of new infections.

Testing now is easier than ever. My administration is encouraging
health care providers to test for HIV routinely, to save lives, that's
why we're doing that. Across America, June 27th is National HIV
Testing Day. (Applause.) For the sake of their health and for the
sake of the health of others, I urge all Americans at risk to get the
test. You'll be -- by getting the test, you'll be making a significant
contribution to making sure that we arrest the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Another way to prevent the spread of AIDS is to fight drug
addiction. (Applause.) This is one more aspect -- in other words, the
spread of AIDS through sharing needles is one more aspect of the
terrible grief and destruction that drug abuse causes across America.
I proposed to Congress increased funding for substance abuse treatment
by $150 million next year. The reason I did so is because we've got an
issue in America that we've got to deal with straight up. (Applause.)
And I want to make sure that all treatment providers can utilize this
money.

Listen, sometimes programs work, kind of the clinical approach
works to help people kick drugs and alcohol. But a lot of times it
requires a change of heart. If you change your heart, you can change
your habits. If you change your heart, you change your life.
(Applause.) And that's why it's important to make sure the faith
community can access federal money to heal the hurt that drug addiction
causes.

All these measures are important and will allow more people with
AIDS to live longer and better lives. Yet, we must, and will, beat
this disease once and for all. So the third element of our strategy to
fight AIDS in America and around the world is to intensify the search
for a vaccine and for a cure. (Applause.)

Just two weeks ago, at the G8 Summit in Sea Island, Georgia,
America joined with Japan and Germany and Great Britain and France and
other allies to establish the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise. What that
means is we're going to make a major commitment by the world's best
scientists to defeat HIV/AIDS.

By the way, we've got some great scientists here in our own
country. At the NIH, we've got some great scientists who have
dedicated a lifetime to finding the vaccine and a cure. It makes sense
to have a collaborative effort with great scientists from all over the
globe. This is a global problem. So we need to work together and
share information.

As part of the effort, the United States will establish a new HIV
Vaccine Research and Development Center. I asked the question to Tommy
whether Dr. Fauci approved of this. He's -- he's one of the leaders in
the world of developing the cure. He said, he's strongly in favor. I
said, if Fauci is for it, I'm for it. The guy knows what he's doing.
He's dedicated a lifetime, as has other scientists here in America, to
finding the cure.

Congress -- as we find the cure, it's very important for Congress
to allow for the acceleration of new vaccines by not allowing frivolous
and junk lawsuits to stand in the way of progress. It's very important
-- (applause) -- it's very important that those who are developing
vaccines in the private sector not be harassed and/or stopped by these
junk lawsuits. I mean, we've got an emergency that we must deal with.
And therefore, the faster a vaccine can be developed and get to market,
the more lives will be saved.

I think the road ahead is clear. I don't think there's any doubt
of where we have to go. We're going to provide better care and
treatment to ease the suffering of the sick. We will strengthen our
prevention efforts. And through focused research, we will create a
vaccine and find a cure. There's no doubt in my mind.

Around the world, AIDS remains a source of great suffering. It's
important for our fellow countrymen to remember. And we have an
obligation to work to relieve the suffering, and we will.

But there's great hope and courage, and that's what really should
sustain our fellow citizens, to hear the stories of hope and courage.
This morning, I met a very brave, smart, capable woman from
Philadelphia. She learned 13 years ago that she was HIV-positive.
Doctors gave her two years to live. She described to us what it was
like to be a mom of two, and have a doctor say, you've got two years to
live.

She felt lost, and then was found at Silloam Ministries, the
Director of which is here, Jim Sheehan. I'm proud you're here. Thanks
for coming. (Applause.) He runs this program which is what he would
describe as a spiritually-based program, a program to help elevate the
spirit, to make sure people who are despondent and hopeless recognize
there is a strong spirit inside them, and then nurture that spirit.

It's -- it is what sustained this brave soul who was told, you've
only got two years to live. In other words, she described what it was
like to be in a spiritually-based program, how uplifting it was.
Today, she's working for her bachelor's degree. (Applause.)

What she shared with us is that she found there to be a dearth of
counselors, those people -- there weren't enough loving souls willing
to help somebody else realize that they've got a hopeful future. So
that's why she's going back to school. It's an amazing story, you see,
somebody who was -- say you'll die in two years, now is saving lives.
And that's what -- (applause.) But let me put it in her words: "The
doctor gave me two years to live, and now it's been 13. So I'm
supposed to be here. I am supposed to be doing something with this."

And what she's doing with this, she's using her intellect and her
love to help somebody else realize that they are supposed to be here.
She is -- she's doing something beautiful, and she has shown that with
hope, life can triumph. And that sustains us. That sustains us in
doing our duty here in America and across the world, because we want
hope to triumph for all.

I want to thank you for giving me a chance to come by and visit
with you today. Thank you for your love and compassion. May God bless
you all, and may God continue to bless our country. Thank you very
much.